This is a zine dedicated to black metal written by a follower of the left hand path, This zine has been around in a different format for a while and I have decided to make an edition for www.blogger.com, for more information email occultblackmetalzine@yahoo.com, new albums as well as classic albums will be reviewed on here as long as their good quality black metal,

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Gnosis Of The Witch are a band from the United States that plays a raw and dark pagan form of black metal and this is a review of their 2014 ep "Daudr Burdr Prysvar" which was released by Wohrt Records.

Dark, distorted and evil sound effects start off the ep giving the music a ritualistic feeling and after the intro clean playing makes its way onto the recording along with a very melodic tone which leads up to a more heavy and melodic direction before going into a very fast raw black metal direction along with blast beats and grim screams.

The tremolo picking the band uses are very heavily rooted in the early 90's black metal sound and they also bring in a decent amount of melodic guitar leads along with a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts while the faster parts bring a lot of chaos into the bands musical sound as well as having a war like feeling to them, after awhile clean playing along with a small amount of synths can be heard in certain sections of the recording and they enhance the evil atmosphere this music creates.

Gnosis Of The Witch have a very raw and chaotic approach to the way they play black metal and they also bring in a lot of the best elements of this musical genre, the production sound s very dark, raw and old school while the lyrics are written in Germanic and cover Dark Thurisan Worship.

In my opinion Gnosis Of The Witch are a very great sounding raw and old school dark pagan/black metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this ep. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Ormar Eitr" and "Daudipursar Seidr". 8/5 out of 10.

Malhkebre are a band from France that plays a very raw and orthodox form of black metal and this is a review of their 2014 album "Revelation" which was released by I, Voidhanger Records.

Evil sound effects start off the album bringing in a few drones along with spoken word ritualistic parts before going into a very heavy and dark direction along with some hateful black metal direction which also leads up to faster riffing and brutal blast beats and you can hear a great amount of talent and skill in the musical instruments and there is a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts throughout the recording along with a lot of raw aggressive and angry energy in the true black metal tradition.

After awhile you can hear a decent amount of melody in their musical sound along with all of the musical instruments standing out on their own and they also bring back the drones of the intro along with the sounds of human depression before returning back to a heavier direction as well as making the vocals sound more grim and evil and a good portion of the tracks are very long and epic in length.

You can hear a great amount of the 2000's era French black metal sound in the bands music along with the ability to mix raw and technical parts together along with a good amount of intros before the tracks which add a more chaotic atmosphere to the recording and the way the band approach vocals are very original while they also remain true to black metal while also adding in new elements to this genre and as the album progresses deep death metal growls can be heard in certain sections of the recording.

Malhkebre creates some very raw, heavy, technical and hateful music with their approach to raw black metal as well as adding in a good amount of originality showing this genre can still progress with the use of traditional instruments as well as being a pure form of black metal, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics are written in a mixture of French and English and cover Satanism, Suicide, and Self Mutilation themes.

In my opinion Malhkebre are a very great sounding raw, technical and orthodox black metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "In Pulverem Reverteris" "To Become Or Die" and "IHSV". 8/5 out of 10.
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1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

We're four 25 years old guys from paris.
The line up is drums, bass, two guitarists including a singer.
The project began there almost a year ago now!

2.Recently you have released your first album, how would you describe your musical sound?

We self-produced this album because we wanted to build it as we imagined, from the compositions to the final sound we have on tape.

We seek to recreate what we do in our rehearsals in paris.
So we recorded in the same studio where we played for a year no, without guitar overdub and without artifice
The overall sound of this demo is very raw and blurry and that's how we see our compositions because the general atmosphere gives another sense to the different melodies.

3.The band was formed early this year but have already released their first album, do you feel that you put a lot of time and effort into the band?

We took the time to choose some songs, and to keep the others depending on the future of the project.
For this demo, we chose the first 4 songs we made as a band, but in a year of work we were able to prepare other compositions for other future projects.
We expected to be ready to release this demo, but also to have enough material not to lower the pace.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with their music?

there is no fixed subject, or something that we are prohibited.
There is a lot of work on the texts. They are written so that even detached from the music, it is balanced and has a true sense.
They are written in rhyme, as a a poem or prose.
Although for the moment the lyrics are not in booklet or accessible, know that we are looking up for each piece to create more something like text on a music than song lyrics.

For the tracks of this demo, DELUGE is about changing role, depending on the situation between two people in the current society and A LA CROISEE DES AMES deals with the influence of society on the way we think but another track is talking about transformation of the sun.
It is each time different subjects, but each time they are topics that we believe timely

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Cepheide'?

Since we are french and that all texts are also written in french, we wanted to find a french word that was connected to the general atmosphere of our songs and that at the same time evoked the recurring theme of astronomy

6.Has the band done any live shows or is this strictly a studio project?

We will surely make live shows before the next album, but for the moment nothing is confirmed

7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

From now on we had to work without label and we produced and recorded this demo alone. We are not really searching for a label but we'll think about it when the time comes.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of atmospheric black metal?

The project comes out of the shadows and we are not looking to do a lot of promo, however we had a lot of very positive and encouraging feedback, a lot of support which was not expected, so we were pleasantly surprised that people to be receptive to our vision of black metal!

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

We all have parallel projects so when we formed this band the aim was to make every effort to do our best, we will see what will be the result of this!

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

We are four so there are very diverse backgrounds.
We can say that the main influential band are ASH BORER , ARS DIAVOLI , URFAUST , ELECTRIC WIZARD , DRUDKH ,GODSPEED YOU…

there is a great fascination for wine, the way that it oldens.
a great interest in cinema which sharpens our thinking in another form of art equally wide
Astronomy is also omnipresent. It has directly inspired us our cover, the title of some songs and the way to write texts

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Oltretomba are a band from Italy that plays a very raw, old school, satanic and occult form of black metal and this is a review of their 2014 album "The Death-Schrierati Con La Morte" which was released by Fistbang Records.

An intro with distorted noises starts off the album along with some background noises and after the intro tribal beats make their way on the album with some heavy guitars and deep demonic vocals and the music starts to go for more of a raw and old school black metal direction along with some grim vocals.

Melodies can be heard in certain sections of the recording and you can hear influences from both the first and second wave styles of black metal in their sound along with a great amount of thrash elements and punk rock style energy and after awhile more fast parts and blast beats find their way onto the recording along with some old school guitar leads that bring an 80's extreme metal feeling to the album while also having their melodic moments at times.

There is a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts throughout the recording with the faster sections displaying a more raw side of black metal and some of the later tracks shows the band bringing in bass guitar leads along with a small amount of clean playing on one of the later songs and at times growls can be heard in the music and they give the album more of an early death/thrash metal feeling.

Oltretomba takes the first and second waves of black metal and combines them to create an album that is very catchy, old school and evil sounding, the production has a very raw, old school and heavy sound, while the lyrics cover Satanism, Occultism, Blasphemies, and Intolerance.

In my opinion Oltretomba are a very great sounding raw, old school and satanic black metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "The Altar Of Succubus" "Silence..People Are Dying" "To Turn A Storm Against God" and "They Are Coming". 8/5 out of 10.

Weltschmerz are a band from the Netherlands that has been featured before in this zine and plays a very fast, raw and aggressive form of black metal and this is a review of their 2014 album "Odium Humani Generis" which was released by Immortal Frost Productions.

A great amount of distortion and reverb start off the album before going into a very fast and raw black metal direction along with blast beats, high pitched screams and a decent amount of melody and they also bring in a decent mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts along with the vocals getting more deep and grim at times.

While the music is mostly focused on an early 90's style of raw black metal you can hear some modern elements being added into the music only on the earlier tracks and when solos and leads are added into the music they add a lot more melody into the bands musical sound and on the 3rd track rain sounds and acoustic guitars find their way onto the recording along with a brief use of spoken word parts before returning back to a heavier direction.

On the later tracks the music gets more darker lyrically while still having a 90's style of European black metal being utilized along with a great amount of chaos and war being invoked with their musical approach and they take influences from the earlier Norwegian, Swedish and French bands and a good amount of the music sounds like it could of been released in 1993 and some of the later songs also show the bass guitars bringing a more powerful sounding presence to the recording as well as acoustic guitars and spoken word parts making their return briefly.

Weltschmerz remain true to their raw old school black metal sound on this album and they create a very grim sounding recording that shows how black metal is meant to be done, the production sounds very raw and old school while the lyrics cover suicide, anti christian, occult and left hand path themes.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Weltschmerz and if you are a fan of raw and of school black metal, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Ending Your Life" "Asmodeus" and "The Night Is My Domain". 8 out of 10.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Capgrass are a band from Argentina that plays a raw from of black metal and this is a review of their self released 2014 ep "Reflections".

A very dark drone sound starts off the ep and after the brief intro heavy and melodic guitar riffs kick in along with some high pitched black metal screams and the music sticks to mostly a mid paced direction while also speeding up after awhile and adding in a more raw sound along with some blast beats and powerful bass lines.

After awhile the guitars add in a more atmospheric edge to the music while also remaining very heavy all at the same time which also leads up to a brief use of acoustic guitars and rain sounds before going into a more melodic direction and adding in solos and leads that gives the ep a more traditional metal feeling while on the last track they bring in a more melodic side of black metal.

On the later tracks there is a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts being utilized along with the vocals adding a more depressive edge to the screams and you can hear a bit of the early 90's black metal sound in the rawer and faster sections of there music and they also make every track sound different while also remaining true to a black metal sound from beginning to end of the recording and the last track also sees the return of acoustic guitars along with a small amount of melodic clean singing vocals.

Capgrass creates a very raw style of black metal with their music which utilizes a great amount of aggression in the true old school style, the production has a very raw and heavy sound while the lyrics cover depressive themes.

In my opinion Capgrass are a very great sounding raw black metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this ep. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Dead In The Crowd" and "Voice Of Perdition". 8 out of 10.

Nuklear Frost are a band from Minnesota that plays a very fast and raw form of black metal and this is a review of their self released 2014 album "Subjugation".

Drones start off the album along with some clean and melodic guitar playing which leads up to drums kicking in which leads up to a heavier direction along with some high pitched black metal screams while also keeping around the melodic edge and after the intro the music goes into a very fast and raw direction along with some brutal blast beats.

There is a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts present throughout the recording along with some primal bass guitars and a good dose of melodic Swedish black metal elements and you can also hear a great amount of anger and hate in the vocals and at times clean playing can be heard in certain sections of the recording.

After awhile the vocals start adding in some deeper parts which gives the music a more death metal feeling along with the guitar riffing utilizing more thrash influences while the main focus remains on a fast and chaotic black metal sound and one of the tracks shows a small amount of melodic Gregorian chants which also are used again towards the end of the recording and the sounds of war before making a return back to a more heavier musical direction and the last song is their epic track with the song being over 8 minutes in length.

Nuklear Frost bring a lot of heaviness , speed, aggression and anger into their style of black metal and creating one of the heaviest albums this genre has seen all year, the production sounds very heavy and powerful for being a self released recording while the lyrics cover violent, hateful, war and anti religion themes.

In my opinion Nuklear Frost are a very great sounding fast, raw and aggressive black metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Theist Holocaust" "Vortex Of Horror" and "Become Death". 8 out of 10.

Monday, July 28, 2014

This is the final review of a promo from Dunnock which shows them continuing their raw, atmospheric and depressive mixture of black metal but adding in elements of ambient, noise and dungeon synth with the promo being released in 2014 by Psalm 88.

A very fast, raw and depressive black metal sound starts off the ep along with some high pitched screams and programmed drum beats as well as a good mixture of mid paced and fast parts and the following track sees the band adding in harsh noises and a lo-fi style of black metal while also being atmospheric at the same time.

On the second song the riffing goes into a slower black metal direction which fits the track perfectly and on the last track all heavy guitars are stripped away and the music goes into a more atmospheric ambient orientated dungeon synth direction while still utilizing a great amount of black metal screams.

Dunnock shows off a more experimental side this time around adding more harsh noises and elements of dungeon synth into their raw atmospheric and depressive approach to black metal, the production has a very dark and raw sound while the lyrics cover dark and depressive themes.

In my opinion this is a very great sounding promo from Dunnock and if you are a fan of raw, atmospheric and depressive black metal with a more experimental approach, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACK "Raining Season II". 8 out of 10.

Dunnock are a band from San Francisco, California that has been featured before in this zine and plays a very raw, atmospheric and depressive form of black metal and this is a review of their self released 2013 promo.

A very fast and raw black metal sound starts off the ep along with some blast beats and high pitched depressive screams and you can also hear a lo-fi atmosphere being present in their musical sound and after awhile synths are added into the music along with a mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts.

On the following track the music is all instrumental and starts out with some dark ambient style synths and after awhile spoken word samples find their way into the song and they avois any trace of heavy guitars or black metal elements.

Dunnock bring in a very raw and atmospheric approach to depressive black metal on the first song and go for a more dark ambient direction on the following track to give this 2 song promo a decent amount of variety, the production has a very dark, raw and lo-fi sound while the lyrics cover dark and depressive themes.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Dunnock and if you are a fan of raw, depressive and atmospheric black metal, you should check out this promo. RECOMMENDED TRACK "Dwells in Mud". 8 out of 10.

Cepheide are a band from France that plays an atmospheric form of black metal and this is a review of their self released 2014 album "De Silence Et De Suite".

A very raw and mid paced atmospheric black metal sound starts off the album along with some high pitched depressive screams being added into the music a few seconds later which leads to the band speeding up a bit and adding in blast beats and you can hear an atmospheric sound being utilized in the background as well as the music adding in more melody.

There is a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts being utilized throughout the recording along with some elements of post rock and after awhile acoustic guitars can be heard in certain sections of the recording along with all of the songs being very long and epic in length and the band also seems to be very heavily influenced by the cascadian style of black metal which they also mix in with a more depressive sound.

On a few of the songs the band cuts back on the vocals and lets the instruments take over for awhile and it also shows a more raw approach to the bands musical style as well as adding in a more aggressive and heavy approach and ignoring some of the lighter elements of their American counterparts.

Cepheide create an atmospheric style of black metal that seems to be heavily rooted in the American cascadian sound but done in a more fast, raw and depressive manner, the production sounds very dark, raw and heavy while the lyrics when they are used are written in French and cover dark themes.

In my opinion Cepheide are a very great sounding atmospheric black metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "A la Croisee Des Ames" and "Deluge". 8 out of 10.

Infernal Awakening are a band from Arizona that plays an atmospheric and melodic form of black metal with elements of death metal and this is a review of their self released 2014 ep "Enlightened By Lucifer's Flame".

A very dark and distorted guitar starts off the album before going into a more fast, raw and melodic direction along with some fast drumming and you can hear some synths and orchestras in their music which leads up to blast beats and grim black metal screams as well as a mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts.

You can hear a great amount of talent and skill in the bands musical sound along with all of the musical instruments having a very powerful sound to them and when solos and leads are added into the music the band starts having a more technical and melodic edge to them and after awhile the riffing and vocals start combining death metal influences into the bands musical sound.

You can hear a quite a bit of Norwegian and Swedish influences of 90's black metal in the bands musical sound and they also bring in a couple of tracks that are very long and epic in length and the synths and orchestras enhance the deathphonic elements of the bands musical sound and at times the blast beats bring a more brutal death metal feeling to the recording and on the last track the band adds in a few seconds of clean playing to clam down the chaos a bit.

Infernal Awakening creates a very synth orientated from of black metal that is not overproduced like the more mainstream bands that play this style and they have a more raw and evil approach with their musical sound along with a great amount of death metal influences being mixed into their style of black metal, the production sounds very powerful for being a self released recording while the lyrics cover Satanism, Occultism, and Darkness.

In my opinion Infernal Awakening are a very great sounding deathphonic black metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this ep. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Enlightened By Lucifer's Flame" and "The King Ov Hell Has Arrived". 8 out of 10.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band in the last 2 years since we talked?

AK-11's first Demo/EP 'Legendary, Demonic & Invincible' (2011), my solo project, was & a blueprint for a : 'Strategic, Left Hand Path, Military, Pagan, Propaganda Band'. I was living in Germany at that stage & had a good opportunity to do the demo recordings. Upon returning to Melbourne, Australia in 2012, I immediately began searching for like minded Heathens, who would help me terrorise the feeble music world & join me in the WAR against the organized religions of the 'white light'. An old comrade & drummer - Morturus offered to take up the Battery. At this stage the six string Axe duties was taken up by the rookie, Davddareth.

The Black Metal WAR spirit fueled AK-11's drive for triumph. Preparations for debut album recordings & the first wave of AK-11's live assaults began. After hitting the stages of Melbourne & Brisbane, we entered the studio in late March 2014 to record our debut full length album 'Once Upon A Time In Europa.' The recording was completed at the end of April. This was immediately followed by a trip back to Germany in May 2014 for the very first AK-11 European album launch-show dates & the spreading of our Propaganda internationally.

Currently, back in Melbourne, we are re-grouping & getting ready for our Australian album launch in September. A new battle plan & 2nd album material is also in the works.

2.Recently you have released your first full length album, how much progress do you feel you have made as musicians since the demo that you had released a couple of years back?

A fair amount of practice is required for sure. You can say I am a much better bass player now then I was during the 2011 demo sessions. I can also scream my head off for longer periods of time. I have known Morturus for years now & I can say he has evolved into a drummer who excels in his craft. He can really get those war-beats going.

3.Also how would you describe your progress as a song writer with the new album?

I always had a hunger for writing morbid & sinister music. Like with others, developing as a song writer over the years has been just a natural progression. The hate never dies but grows stronger, fuelling the desire for personal musical conquests. It sharpens the visions of one's objectives, which expose new inspirations, granting the will to write more demonic tunes, as well as to be a better composer.

The tracks on new album compared to the demo, have more diversity, with longer intros, instrumentals, stronger new music passages & rhythm changes. There is a lot more controlled anger in the lyrics. With 'Once Upon A Time In Europa', the tracks are like chapters in a book, tying into each other & also there is a (Europa) song trilogy which defines the title.

4.On the new album you also re-did a couple of tracks from the demo, what was the decision behind re-doing some of your older material?

The demo was a solo project with a drum machine. My goal was always to re-record those songs for a proper album with a full line up & inject new & stronger dark energies into the music.

5.On the demo you where all solos but with the new album you have a full line up, do you feel this has made your music sound a lot more powerful?

Yes, of course. The 'Legendary, Demonic & Invincible' demo is only my personal aggression & demons. 'Once Upon A Time In Europa' is a 3 piece band attack, so the feel & dynamics are a lot more complex. Having real drums smashing away to the devastating style of Black Metal is second to none. And even though 95% of the guitars were recorded by Davddareth, he managed to capture the melodies with conviction, bringing forth the obliterating sound track of our 'message' which is essential to the WAR.

6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Two come to mind. The first is a Melbourne performance which occurred on the 12th April 2014 at the Central Club. Leading up to the night, my two comrades & I have been perfecting our set for some time. We were more than ready for battle, so when we came out on stage, we blasted away with speed, precision & hate. Playing Black Metal at a rapid pace & screaming out in the night can summon up some pretty unholy feelings. I felt that we had a bond with something 'profane' that night. The crowed response was very positive as well.

The second assault I will mention was our debut European album launch show, which occurred on 31st May 2014 at Gaby's Gruft in the German city of Stuttgart. The venue was a small 'Keller' with limited stage gear & needles to say it was packed. And once again we did not falter in executing our material, with aggression & speed being the essence in our performance.The crowed response was really intense & they would not let us leave until we played an encore. Some maniacs were already familiar with the material, so that is always a great feeling especially when performing in a foreign country. What also made that night was the copious amount of beer with old mates & the new bonds, friendships that were formed. A memorable night indeed.

Our stage performance can be described as a 'sonic assault' on the pathetic, back word philosophies & consequential actions of the weak minded, human garbage that continues to plague our lands. AK-11 is a weapon against such 'slave mentality' fairy tales, deeds & wishful thinking. The vocals are the victorious battle cries which describe the demise & forth coming devastation. Each beat is a bullet into the heart of our enemy. The notes & chords are the Hell Fire that vaporises & cleanses everything that stands our way. Any remaining ashes are scattered over the abyss.

The aim of each performance is to inspire & unite all the 'like minded' under the WAR banner of Black Metal & to call upon them to join us in our cause. So each AK-11 performance is not just a group of 'buddies on stage', gathering together for a good time & a few beers. Its an event with a purpose, that requires visual & auditory brutality, mostly relentless style of playing & merciless oratory.

7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new release?

A live on air performance at a local radio station (PBS 106.7fm) by Burning Bitumen is being arranged for early September. Our Australian (Melbourne) album launch will take place on Saturday, 20th September 2014 at the Central Club. There is another Melbourne performance coming up on the 6th of December at the Reverence Hotel. Also as mentioned earlier, we are 're-grouping' the AK-11 battalion after the European tour, so there are a few suprises coming up.

8.How have extreme metal fans worldwide react to the musical sound of the newer album?

The metalheads that have been following AK-11 have only positive things to say about the new recording & those familiar with the demo have voiced their opinion on how much progress has been made over the last couple of years. There has been a lot of support & interest for the band locally & internationally.

9.Where do you want to see the band heading into musically during the future/

I envisage AK-11 becoming more brutal & hostile as our mission continues & the WAR intensifies. I always aim to work towards interesting music, something that is memorable & can be listened to over & over again. Some bands just play fast & heavy for the sake of it. Their song ideas have been already done by others many, many times over, so its boring, safe & predictable. For me music like that is heard once & then forgotten. So I do try to experiment when it comes to song writing & I'm open to new ideas. I can say for sure however that AK-11 will remain dark, militant, heavy & always dedicated to the Left Hand Path.

10.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Friday, July 25, 2014

Martelo Negro are a band from Portugal that plays a mixture of black, death, thrash and speed metal and this is a review of their 2014 album "Equinocio Espectral" which was released by HellProd.

Animal and demonic sounds start off the album and after the intro a very raw, heavy and old school kicks in along with some blast beats and a mixture of growls and screams as well as the music combining old school black, death and thrash metal together and the bass guitars also have a very powerful sound to them.

There is a great amount of energy in the bands musical sound that is very close to punk rock and the solos and leads the band uses are in a very melodic and old school metal direction and the music also brings in a perfect balance between first and second wave black metal while the death metal side of the bands musical sound is heavily influenced by the early Florida wave of this genre.

All of the music on the album sound s like it could of been recorded being 88-91 while the production gives the music a more modern sound and on one of the track they bring in a brief use of melodic chanting and some of the later tracks bring in some brutal blast beats which gives the music a more raw black metal feeling along with a great amount of early 80's speed metal in the bands guitar riffing and one of the later tracks bring in a brief use of spoken word ritualistic parts and they close the album with an outro that brings in a very dark and occult sounding synth.

Martelo Negro take the first and second waves of black metal and combine them with death, thrash and speed metal of the late 80's to early 90's variety along with the raw energy of punk rock to create the musical sound that is presented on the recording, the production has a very strong and powerful sound while the lyrics are written in a mixture of Portuguese and English and cover occult and left hand path themes.

In my opinion Martelo Negro are a very great sounding mixture of black, death, thrash and speed metal and if you are a fan of those musical genres, you should check out this band. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Culto Hermetico" "Born Again Antichrist" "Sworn To The Heptagram" and "Caronte". 8/5 out of 10.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Dark Blasphemer are a band from Argentina that has been featured before in this zine and plays a very raw and depressive form of black metal and this is a review of their self released compilation album "Singles 2013-2014".

A very dark and raw black metal sound starts off the compilation along with some blast beats, heavy bass lines and high pitched depressive screams and the band also brings in a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and after awhile melodic guitar solos and leads are added into the music.

You can hear a good amount of melody being displayed throughout most of the tracks which they mix in with their raw musical approach at times and the faster sections have a lot of early 90's black metal influences being added in while the lead guitars are more in a modern and melodic musical direction.

On these single tracks Dark Blasphemer continue their raw approach to depressive black metal that was presented on this recording as well as being a lot more guitar driven than most bands of this genre, the production has a very dark, raw and old school sound while the lyrics cover suicidal and depressive themes.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Dark Blasphemer and if you are a fan of raw, depressive black metal, you should check out this compilation> RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "The Land Is Mine" and "Drowning In Depression". 8 out of 10.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Hod are a band from Texas that has been featured before in this zine and plays a mixture of old school black metal and death metal and this is a review of their 2014 album "Book Of The Worm" which will be released in September by Artic.

A very heavy and brutal sound starts off the album along with some blast beats which leads up more fast parts, grim black metal screams and growls and all of the musical instruments have a very powerful sound to them and after awhile the band starts using a mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts as well as adding in some guitar leads that bring a more old school death metal feeling to the bands musical sound.

There is a great amount of talent and skill in the bands musical sound and they take the heaviest elements of black and death metal and combine them together along with a great amount of raw mixture being done in the early 90's tradition and the music can also be very brutal at times and after awhile the guitar riffing and leads start bringing in more melody into the chaotic sound this band creates with their music.

In the faster sections of the bands musical sound you can hear some elements of war and bestial black metal but done with more talent and skill than most bands of that genre and they mix that style with the rawness of thrash and the album is heavy, raw and brutal form beginning to close of the recording.

Hod remain true to their fast, heavy, raw and brutal mixture of black and death metal on this album and there is never a soft moment presented on any of the tracks that are present on this recording, the production has a very professional sound while the lyrics cover Occultism, Darkness and the writings of H.P Lovecraft.

In my opinion this is another great sounding album from Hod and if you are a fan of fast heavy, raw and brutal black/death metal, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "When The Ghouls Feed" "Death Whores" and "Where Are The Demons". 8 out of 10.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Italy's 1 man band The Unchaining have returned with a new recording that continues his epic and atmospheric approach to black metal and this is a review of his self released 2014 album "Fornost Erain".

Epic sounding synths start off the album bringing in the atmosphere of a fantasy movie soundtrack along with elements of dungeon synth and after the instrumental ambient track programmed beats are added into the music along with some raw guitar riffing and grim screams which takes the music more into an atmospheric black metal direction.

There is a good balance between synths, guitars and vocals throughout the recording and the songs stick mostly to a slow or mid paced musical direction and all of the tracks have an epic feeling to them along with one of the songs being very long and epic in length and the synths also bring in a great amount of medieval atmosphere's into the musical sound.

Halfway through the album a brief instrumental is added onto the recording and the synths use a variety of many different sounding keys and bring a folk music feeling into the song before returning back to a more raw and atmospheric black metal direction on the following track along with some influences of doom metal being added into the slower sections of the guitar riffing and you can also hear some acoustic guitar playing being added into the music briefly, in certain sections the synths bring in a symphonic feeling while the guitars always remain in a rawer direction and on some of the songs towards the end they start adding in small amounts of melodic guitar leads and the album closes with another dungeon synth style instrumental.

The Unchaining remains true to his raw and epic atmospheric black metal sound on this recording and he makes the music more interesting by always keeping the vocals grim and the guitar riffing adds a raw side of black metal into his musical sound, the production has a very dark and raw sound while the lyrics cover nature, spirituality, myth and introspection.

In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from The Unchaining and if you are a fan of epic and atmospheric black metal, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "A Stream Of Silver Swords" and "Fornost Erain". 8 out of 10.

Monday, July 21, 2014

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

1. Jim: We’re two guys from Virginia who live a few hours away from each other that like to make music we want to hear. I do vocals, drums, and power electronics. Mike does guitar, bass, vocals, and power electronics as well.

2.Recently you have released a full length album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?

2. Mike: The sound presented is very bleak and we experimented a bit more with noise. While we've kept up with the melody our music normally carries, I think this album is a lot meaner than anything we've written in the past.

Jim: We tried to make something that was absolutely relentless. I'd like to think we succeeded.

3.In the last year you have put out a full length, split, 2 demos and a couple of singles, do you feel that you put a lot of time and effort into the band?

3. Mike: We've definitely committed to this project. Since we both live about 3 hours apart any chance we could get together we'd just crank out as much material as we could. We've tried to consistently write for the past few years and we've been pretty good about keeping up with it.

4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

4. Jim: Suicide. Social Justice Issues. Crises.

5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the band name and the decision to spell the bands name all in lower case?

5. Jim: We’d rather not talk about it.

6.Currently there is only 2 members in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you chose to remain a duo?

6. Mike: The two of us work really well together so the duo setup has been working for us really well for writing and recording. If we ever start playing shows though we would have to expand.

7.Has the band done any live shows or is this strictly a studio project?

7. Mike: We haven't done any live shows yet. I'd certainly like to at some point.

Jim: Late 2015

8.A year back you where a part of a split with Crone, what are your thoughts on the other band that had participated on this recording?

8. Jim: Anthony Vi is a god. He’s a great musician and an incredibly talented audio engineer. Crone is his solo post rock project he seldom releases music as. When he does, its great.

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal and other extreme genres?

9. Mike: We've had some great feedback. All the reviews we've gotten exceeded any expectation I had especially considering I never thought we'd be getting reviewed any time soon.

Jim: The support we’ve received was completely unexpected. We’re outsiders and the fact that people enjoy us and want to help us is wild. Sean at Cvlt Nation as been backing us since the demo. Mattia at Sentient Ruin is fucking awesome and the fact that he believes in us so much is awesome. We’re forever grateful for the support.

10.Where do you see this band heading into musically during the future?

Jim: The support we’ve received was completely unexpected. We’re outsiders and the fact that people enjoy us and want to help us is wild. Sean at Cvlt Nation as been backing us since the demo. Mattia at Sentient Ruin is fucking awesome and the fact that he believes in us so much is awesome. We’re forever grateful for the support.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

11. Mike: I know we both took some influence from The Body. I've also been inspired by Wolves in the Throne Room, Bastard Sapling and Black Monolith. I've been listening to a lot of music as of lately like Type O Negative, Sleep, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Elliott Smith, Boards of Canada, Ministry, Black Breath, and Pantera to name a few.

Jim: A lot of Tears For Fears and Skinny Puppy influence for me on Coping With Loss. Lately, I’ve just been listening to a lot of Lil Ugly Mane.

12.What are some of your non musical interests?

12. Mike: Movies are pretty sweet.

Jim: I’ve been reading a lot as of late. That and writing in a journal as a form of free therapy. It’s great. Reflecting on yourself is important.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

13. Mike: We're very grateful for all the support we've been getting. Thank you.

Misanthropic Might are a band from Austria that plays a very raw and misanthropic form of black metal and this is a review of their 2014 album "Menschenhasser" which will be released by Black Skull Records.

Spoken word samples start off the album before adding in an old school thrash style riff and powerful sounding bass guitars which leads up to a fast and black metal metal direction along with some blast beats, melodies and high pitched screams and deep growls and they also bring in a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts.

There is a good balance between the more raw and melodic sides of black metal throughout the recording and they also use some real spoken word parts at times and the faster riffing has a warlike and armageddon feeling to them at times along with some the vocals adding in more grim elements.

The guitar solos and leads the band uses enhances the melodic black metal qualities of the recording and some of the growls and blast beats bring a brutal death metal feeling into their raw black metal sound at times and on of the tracks sees the band bringing in a brief use of clean playing in a couple of the tracks before making a return back to a more heavy,fast, raw dark and melodic direction and the last track also sees the band adding in a brief use of back up shouts which gives the music a more war like feeling.

Misanthropic Might takes the rawest, fastest, heaviest and melodic sides of black metal and combining them together as well as invoking an old school feeling to create some very great sounding black metal, the production sounds very powerful while the lyrics cover misanthropy, anti christian and war themes.

In my opinion Misanthropic Might are a very great sounding fast, raw and melodic black metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "War" "Fallen Kingdom" and "Becoming the Misanthrope". 8 out of 10.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?

Hi, guys from Occult Black Metal Zine. First of all, thanks for the support by asking us for our first interview in english language. Well, we spent a lot of time trying to release the first album, an album we are really pride of, basically because some labels did not want to work with us, and here we are now, destroying ears and bursting heads of our audience. Right now we are ad portas of finishing the recordings of our second album, the songs on this one are more powerful and vicious, and we gave the chance to ourselves to make some experimentation on the melodies. You may ask why "so soon for a second album", and the answer is because the first album are old songs that had to be recorded and released, since those ones were created 2 or 3 years ago. We are "non stop" music maniacs, so new stuff had to came up... In a couple of weeks we will ritualize the city of Rancagua in our country, Chile, as an official live release of our debut album "Jatenentolpen Thejin", and maybe a couple of more gigs later, who knows. After that, we plan to start compositions for the third album, the colossus Siaskel will not stop!!

2.Recently you have released a new album, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical direction of the new recording and also how does it differ from the demo you had released a few years back?

The promo cd we release on 2010 was a rehearsal recorded in multitrack, both of those songs are in the full length cd we already self release. There were not changes on the music, only a more professional recording and different vocals.

3.This is the first release in 4 years since the promo demo, can you tell us a little bit more about the 4 year gap between releases?

At the beginning of 2011 we recruited Gorrge, the new vocalist of the band. By that time we had the music of Jatenentolpen Thejin already recorded and we had to wait until he learn the songs and work the vocal duties...After that he was ready to impregnate the songs with the darkness we were seeking and recorded his part. At the end of that year we had a pre-agreement with a french label on a vinyl release, but after a considerable delay on the answer, the label told us the release was cancelled by financial problems. That was the moment we decided to self release it by the back up of Gorrge, without his support and perseverance, the release of our first full length album maybe would have taken so much time to be done.

4. Can you tell us a little bit more about the song lyrics that are present on the recording?

Our lyrics are tales covered in blood, horror, war and destruction. We talk about stories of Selk'nam culture, natives from Tierra del Fuego, at the south end of Chile. We pray about their cosmogony and describe in a personal way, their rich mythology, so different to others, thanks to the cultural parallelism of primal civilizations.

5.On the album you sing in a mixture of Spanish and Ona which was the language of the Selk'nam, can you tell us a little bit more about the decision to write in these languages and also can you tell us a little bit more about the Selk'nam tribe?

As you say, the lyrics on the album are written in spanish, and we use different words and sentences of the Selk'nam language. We had a very hard work studying the Selk'nam culture, mainly reading old historical descriptions/writings of investigators, scientists and religious people made long time ago. The main point of this is because, this culture has so many shocking events, that, respectfully, we didn't want to disown and treat the themes lightly at all. We wanted that each phrase and story have their own weight and interpretation. Is in this moment we decided to sing in not another language but our own, and add the Selk'nam ingredient to give sense at what was being sung about the own creation, heroes, shamans, demons, spirits and gods of this now extinct culture. As the whole universe of different cultures, the Selk'nam had own special aspects related to their beliefs and the way to conceive life and death, so does their conception of the creation of the universe, the rites and shamanic invocations, between long aspects of history. Our songs deal with many of those aspects and specific stories of the past.

6. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Siaskel'?

The legend says Siaskel was a merciless and vicious being, evil made flesh. This colossus was capable of terrifying every single being on the Onaisin (territory occupied by the Selk'nam). He was a destructive force feared by all of the souls on the firmament, as the story says. And well, the name by itself is so powerful we didn't have any doubt of calling the band like this.

7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Extreme Metal Festival, 2008 in Chile. This one was made open air. In that time, the vocalist of the band Occidens was singing on Siaskel, only for live performances purpose. In Chile, it is very difficult you get watched by much people at once, and to be in front of 1000 maniacs it's a lot...This happened basically because the line up of that fest was exceptional for those years: Magnanimvs, Denying Nazarene, Bellum, Melektaus, Gorgoth and Occidens between others. About the stage performance, it is very difficult to say since we have not played live at least in the last 3 years and the actual line up is very different from the past one, as we told you before, we will start promoting our album by live performances very soon, so probably you'll figure out yourself by watching some live videos people may upload in the future. And as a bonus: we are preparing to play some tunes of the second album on this year.

8.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new release?

The first gig will be on Rancagua, on the second week of August. We hope to do a couple of more shows on the left months of 2014. About touring, in Chile it doesn't work, at least you have 3 or 5 gigs and that is not touring. We hope to play outside Chile someday, and following that, we have to keep working in our music since, obviously, is very difficult any promoter wants you if you are not well known to make people pay a fee to watch you.

9.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

Yes, we are currently unsigned, and yes, the idea for the next album (and the next after that) is to be released by a label. We hope a good and professional label get interested in our stuff, since releasing your own material is really exhausting, not only financially speaking, but it requires a lot of working time. By the moment we have not talk with any labels, since we are focused on distributing and selling the first release. As the new record is almost ready, we will probably send some promo stuff to labels of our interest or vice versa, if any label contacts us, we will have to discuss a deal. Time is running.

10.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black and death metal?

It's funny, since we have a better response of the audience outside Chile, than inside. The album has a lot of reviews by now and only positive ones (average 8 of 10) by the moment...for us that is surprising and very satisfactory. Our website is visited mainly by people of outside the country and the main request of buying the album are not from Chile as well. We thank our vocalist, who has worried of promoting our cd in different sites of the world, not only by "sending" the stuff , but by promoting our material in situ in a couple of countries he has recently visited. We prefer to call our music by the tag of "extreme metal" only, since the "style" of Siaskel has been very discussed on the media, about being black metal, death metal, blackdeath metal, and shit like that, but finally, the feedback has been very good. We released 500 copies in a professionally manufactured cd and right now we have maybe 100 or less left.

11.What is going on with some of the other musical projects or bands these days that some of the band members are a part of?

Our drummer and lead guitarist share a project called INTENEBRAS, and they are releasing a full length album very soon. Our vocalist used to sing in the band ANCESTRAL, a death metal band, but he is not longer part of that band, he is working in a black/doom metal project now, called CONCATENATUS, where he does vocals and drums. Our bass player and rhythm guitar belongs 100% to SIASKEL.

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your newer music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Well, we have a wide taste in music, but the goal of Siaskel always has been to create extreme music, related to the roots of our music taste in the past years, bands like Dissection, Limbonic Art (old), Marduk (old), Dark Funeral (old), Infernal War, Thunderbolt, Ondskapt, Setherial (old), Kriegmaschine, etc. Every member has it's own music taste, but the usual and common thing is old school black and death metal.

13.What are some of your non musical interests?

As every member of the band are full grown adults, everyone has their own different activities, and a different vision of life of course... but taking beer outside of the map, we enjoy history and stuff like non-conventional movies.

14.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

EVERYONE WILL BE BURNED BY THE LAVA OF SIASKEL'S BLOOD, EVERY SKULL WILL BE CRUSHED BY HIS DECIMATING SCREAM, EVERY CHILDREN, WOMAN AND MAN MAY HUNG ON HIS SCOURGING BELT!! THE CIRCLE OF EXISTENCE AND UNIVERSAL CHAOS MAY DESTROY EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF THE ACTUAL CIVILIZATION!! PREPARE TO BE JUDGED BY THE UNNAMEABLE ONE!!! SÓ'ONH HAS'KÁN!!!